Café Townhouse Doneraile. Make a day of it. Lunch at café. Visit Doneraile Park and Annes Grove Gardens. Or follow the local authors!

Café Townhouse Doneraile. Make a day of it. 

Lunch or breakfast at café. Visit Doneraile Park and Annes Grove Gardens.

Or take the writer trail of Bowen, Spenser, Trevor and Sheehan 

Tart of the Day

The Café Townhouse Doneraile is quite a place, both indoors and out, and the food is excellent too. Its location makes it an ideal stop for visitors to the local attractions, such as Annes Grove Gardens and Doneraile Park. Indeed, it has its very own entrance to the park!

We dropped in last week, after a stroll around the park. The big house there is closed at the moment as renovations proceed but you have many acres and pathways to explore on the banks of the Awbeg River that flows through. And that same river also flows through the newly renovated Annes Grove Gardens. 

Chicken Salad

So here is one way to spend your day. Take a morning walk in the Doneraile Park, then lunch at the cafe before driving the few miles to Annes Grove.

The café also serves breakfast but we came in “the back door” from the park for lunch. The interior room, that faces out on to the village main street, was pretty full but we choose to dine outside in a beautifully decorated courtyard with lots of overhead shade provided by the many parasols. Skilful decoration is seen throughout the café, inside and out, and that is not surprising as owners Myra and Ray also run an house interior business from the premises.

Apple Pie

Back to the menu. We had quite a choice. There was a Ploughman’s Plate, a generous plate indeed as I remember from a previous visit. Soup too but the day was on the warm side. Also available was an Open Nordic Flatbread, A Toasted Special (with soup), Warm Chicken and Bacon Salad, and A Warm Salad of Clonakilty Black pudding and Bacon.

My pick was the Chicken Ciabatta (toasted ciabatta with chicken, house basil pesto, mozzarella and tomato relish along with a well prepared salad of Kilbrack Farm organic salad leaves (13.00). Just perfect, every little bit, so good that the visiting robin got interested!

Please!

The cheeky little bird was also keen on CL’s Warm Chicken Tart of the Day, another generous plateful of chicken, a distinctive and delicious house slaw, country relish and those salad leaves again (14.00). I got more than the robin in a swap deal and can confirm that this too was a superb plateful, full of flavour and texture just like my Ciabatta. 

Both plates went back clean and, in a good mood, we ordered cakes and tea, again from quite a list. So, at our leisure in the sun,  we enjoyed the Victoria sponge Sandwich (been years since I had one) and the Apple Pie which came with cream or ice-cream and a caramel drizzle. In then to the packed room (over twenty diners here, just one man!) To pay up and say goodbye before heading out to the sunny main street. Should mention too that, like the food, the friendly and efficient service was superb,

If you are interested in Annes Grove, here’s a link covering our very recent visit. 

Quite a few literary connections in the area too including Elizabeth Bowen, Canon Sheehan, Edmund Spenser and William Trevor.

Ideal corner for Afternoon Tea al fresco. See those parasols!

Cooling off time!

A wing of Doneraile Court

Just one of the magnificent trees in the park

Guided tour of the park?

The Parterre. Gates were closed on most recent visit.

We did a more extensive walk through the park in April 2021 and you may check it out here at 

Doneraile Park, where the Awbeg River runs through 166 hectares.